Debut for OTS BioTank at Langdons’ new depot facilities in Redditch
Vehicles fuelling at Langdons Industries new depot facilities at Redditch have an additional line of defence to ensure that the quality of the diesel stock remains in pristine condition — ‘as delivered from the refinery’. For this fuelling point is based on an OTS BioTank, a new type of storage tank with self-cleansing technology, which has been developed by Oil Tank Supplies of Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire.
Langdons Industries (now part of the international Nagel group), specialises in the distribution of chilled and frozen produce.
The £10 million investment at Redditch will provide the hub services for north/south traffic. The operation forms an integral part of a national network incorporating twelve regional depots as well as a number of partners, to support Langdons’ 24 hour Chillnet service, which covers most of the UK and Ireland.
“Transportation is provided by a company fleet of 225 articulated units equipped with dual temperature trailers,” explains Consultant and Project Manager, Wilfred Dickinson.
“Now that we are aware of this potential risk, we could see that the BioTank system would be an ideal way to ensure that we eliminated fuel contamination completely. We have a longstanding working relationship with Oil Tank Supplies and the company has completed several tank installations for other Langdons depots.”
Wilfred Dickinson, Consultant and Project Manager for Langdons Industries.
“These vehicles are operating more or less around the clock, trunking between depots and delivering to key accounts – such as RDCs for a national cash and carry outlet and several supermarket chains. Reliability and fuel economy are crucial. We cannot tolerate any compromise to vehicle performance, caused by dirty fuel.”
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Depending on storage conditions, diesel fuel is prone to fungal growth – an infestation which, if left untreated, can lead to clogged filters and potential service issues which could then impact on fleet productivity.
This potential risk has been exacerbated by the increasing proportion of biodiesel entering the supply chain. Despite its ‘green’ credentials, biodiesel contains a higher amount of suspended water, a property which nourishes microbial growth during storage.
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The OTS BioTank is designed to inhibit any potential microbial infestation. The conditioning system comprises a control unit, pump and pipework to re-circulate the tank contents periodically through a series of filtration stages. These include dewatering and an Ultra Violet treatment to kill bacteria.
“Since Langdons are turning over their fuel supplies fairly quickly, diesel contamination is not expected to be a big issue,” says Wilfred Dickinson.
“However, prior to the installation at Redditch, Langdons did experience a couple of incidents where vehicles had drawn fuel from a tank which was at a low stock level.”
“Now that we are aware of this potential risk, we could see that the BioTank system would be an ideal way to ensure that we eliminated it completely. We have a longstanding working relationship with Oil Tank Supplies and the company has completed several tank installations for other Langdons depots.”
Wilfred Dickinson continues: “OTS has given us good service, their technical expertise is good and the quality of work is excellent. Another important factor as far as this installation was concerned, is that the OTS headquarters is reasonably close. If we have any technical snags they are dealt with very quickly and of course, we are happy to cooperate with development work if this will help us to improve Langdons’ operational facilities.”
The new BioTank is a multi product storage tank with capacity for 55K litres of white (road) diesel and 45K of red diesel for the trailer refrigeration packs. There is also provision for 5k litres of Adblue. At current fuel usage, the tank allows sufficient fuel to cover about 10 days normal operations. All of the main Langdons depots have their own fuelling points and typically, the tank at Redditch will be replenished on a weekly basis.
